Day 3 at the Monastery; the Silent Chapel
When the bells rang at 3.45 am, I staggered up out of the bed and dressed in the warmest clothes I’d brought; i.e., ALL the clothes I’d brought. A tee-shirt under a sweater under a fleece. Jeans, socks and trainers. Quietly I unlocked the door and peered out into the corridor. Empty. Good! Off I ran on silent feet through dimly lit corridors and down staircases to the unlocked door in the wall. Into a tiny chapel where the only light came from still-burning candles now flickering down to their wicks. On into the main church building, where only the main lights over the nave gave illumination. The church was very cold. There were just two of us in the pews. The monks filed into individual choir stalls and turned on little reading lights attached to the lecterns. The praising of God began. My new friend Henry of the Levitation Lessons sat beside me, whispering explanations of the order and parts to the singing. As it ended and the monks filed out of the church, dawn was beginning to light the stained glass windows of the apse. The ceremony had been beautiful. Praise and thanks for a new day. Grand. Now I could flit back to bed. Oh no I couldn’t! It seemed Henry and I were going to hear Mass. Apparently a very elderly monk who liked to do his own thing, said Mass after the first prayers of the day, the Invitatory Prayers I’d just witnessed. So back in the small chapel, the two of us sat in the light of flickering candles and waited for the swish of robes…
After the Mass (attendance; 2), breakfast was chocolate cake and tea in the guesthouse kitchen. The Maverick Monk who said his own Mass in the chapel came. So there I was at 5.30 in the morning eating chocolate cake with a monk and a fellow guest. Let’s just say, I learned a lot about the monkly life. It was daylight when I fell into the bed, full of calmness, spirituality, and chocolate cake. Still hadn’t sorted out my head, but, well, there was time yet.
Later in the day I brought my book to the Summer House. Ordered myself to sit quietly and just read. Be spiritual. Reflect. Breathe deeply. What I didn’t know until I entered the pretty little building was that the Summer House was the Smoking House, and not for kippers or salmon. It reeked. I sat on the verandah. Still coughed – but this was due to the fact that two smokers had taken up residence on the bench beside me….have people no consideration? The damn cottage was already ruined, why not just go in there for a puff and leave the outdoor benches for non-smokers? Stop... I’m here to learn Patience. Charity. Unselfishness…. Feeling very impatient and very uncharitable, I made a beeline for to the car and took off so impatiently that I practically did a hand brake turn. Another spiritual exam failed! I won’t be getting canonised any time soon. Ah, but there was compensation for my failure; fish and chips by the seaside.
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